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Vote ‘yes’ for intolerance, ‘no’ for equality

Sunday’s headlining article, supporting the marriage amendment, was a great disappointment. Not because of a difference in opinions, but because of how poorly their argument is constructed. They argue that changing the definition of marriage would cause a loss of religious liberties to Christians. Yet there is no shown connection between marriage equality and a legitimate case of a loss of “religious liberties.”

Pastor Brad Brandon cites a case where a photographer was sued for not photographing a same-sex marriage as an example; it’s a story that sounds more like discrimination than lost liberties. If the couple getting married had been African-American, instead of homosexual, would they then claim he was having his civil liberties taken away?

There’s also a comparison of the silence of others toward the amendment to when the Nazis began to strip the Jewish people of their liberties. In what universe is giving equal rights to the gay community the same as taking the rights of Christians? If anything, this group is trying to take away the inevitable rights of the gay community. And to what ends? Why shouldn’t we, as a state, allow same-sex marriage? Allowing marriage equality does no harm to Christianity, Christians or religious liberties. It only gives them the same rights that everyone else has in this modern world.

If they simply argued that the Old Testament says that it is an abomination for a man to lie with another man; they’d be right about that at least. But the Old Testament says a lot of outdated things: women aren’t stoned if they lose their virginity before marriage, slaves are no longer sold, pork is eaten often, and the Sabbath may have lost its significance from a day of rest in favor of football. These are modern issues in an ever-changing world, to look back to a document that’s a couple thousand years old and expect a direct answer to current social issues is just absurd.

The most important thing that Pastor Brad Brandon, or perhaps Minnesota for Marriage, seems to have forgotten is the teachings of Christ. When he tells the people to “love your neighbor” (Mark 12:31), or to those more zealously opposed to such sinful ways, Jesus also teaches to “love your enemy, and pray for those who persecute you” (Matthew 5:44).